President Karzai of Afghanistan has fired the Governor of Helmand province, a severe setback to Britain’s strategy in the lawless region at the heart of the Taleban resurgence.

Mohammed Daud was appointed in January, at Britain’s behest, to replace Sher Muhammad Akhunzada, who was widely believed to have links to Helmand’s vast and expanding drugs trade.

British officials regarded Mr Daud as the cleanest governor in Afghanistan and hoped that his extensive experience in development would help to win over Helmand’s population.

President Karzai called Mr Daud back to the Afghan capital, Kabul, and dismissed him on Thursday.

“I’m in Kabul. I’ve heard the same thing as you, but I’ve heard nothing officially,” Mr Daud told The Times last night. A spokesman for President Karzai’s office said: “Officially, nothing is done so far.” But a Western source inside the Afghan Government said: “He [Mr Daud] was removed yesterday. In the long term, we don’t know the impact on British policy in Helmand.”

In the short term, the removal is a huge setback for Britain, which is in charge of military operations in Helmand and has more than 3,500 troops there.

Since the arrival of British troops early this year triggered an upsurge in violence, British officials have tried to focus on reconstruction and development as much as on military operations. They have also tried to persuade farmers to stop growing poppies. A record 150,000 hectares (257,000 acres) of poppies were cultivated in Afghanistan this year, with the largest rise occurring in Helmand. According to some experts, Helmand’ s poppies account for half the heroin on British streets.

British officials fear that Mr Daud will be replaced by his deputy, Amir Muhammad Akhunzada, the brother of Sher Muhammad Akhunzada. He is thought to have links to the drugs trade and has been banned from running in elections because he refuses to disband his personal militia. British officials have also refused to work with him.

According to diplomatic sources, Tony Blair had asked President Karzai to back Mr Daud, who had struggled to overcome the Akhunzadas’ influence, and dismiss Amir Muhammad Akhunzada. Another source said: “For the moment and before a new governor is named, the governor of Helmand is a drug-dealing warlord who was banned from the elections by the UN for keeping a militia and his connection to narcotics, and with whom the British have said they cannot work. Nice.”

Sher Muhammad Akhunzada, who now holds a seat in the Senate, said that he had heard that General Muhammad Nabi Molakhel, the newly appointed chief of police of Helmand, had been dismissed too. Nafaz Khan, a former militia commander and police chief in Musa Qala, in Helmand, made the same claim, but the news could not immediately be confirmed. General Molakhel was brought in to replace the previous chief of police, who was thought to have links to the drugs trade.

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